Drywall calculator
How many sheets a room takes on walls or ceilings, and what the board, the hanging and the finishing cost.
Breakdown
U.S.| Item | Quantity | Unit | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Drywallarea / sheet area, plus waste, rounded upseed $16.00 at 2026-07 · WPU137 481.644 to 481.644 (2026-07) | 36 sheet | $16.00 | $576.00 |
| Hanging4 sheets per worker-hour on a wall, slower overheadOEWS 2025-05 · 47-2081 · incl. payroll burden | 9 hr | $39.75 | $357.79 |
| Taping and finishing2.5 sheets per worker-hour on a wall, slower overheadOEWS 2025-05 · 47-2082 · incl. payroll burden | 14.4 hr | $45.45 | $654.45 |
| Direct cost | $1,588.24 | ||
What to charge
your markup, your overhead| Direct cost | $1,588.24 |
| Price to the client | $2,057.73 |
| Gross marginmarkup 29.6% on cost is a margin of 22.8% on price | 22.8% |
| Overhead at 15.0% of revenuea property of the business, not of this job: annual overhead over annual revenue | -$308.66 |
| Net margin | 7.8% |
| What is left after this job carries its share of the business | $160.83 |
Keep it
saved against today’s figuresThe markups above are starting values, not advice. Profit is not asked for separately on purpose: a markup already carries your profit intent, and adding a profit percentage on top of it counts the same money twice. Overhead is taken out of revenue rather than added to the price, so the gap between gross and net is the part most estimates never show.
Labour comes from the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics release for the selected state, multiplied by 30% to cover payroll taxes, insurance and workers’ compensation, because the published figure is a wage and not what an hour costs an employer. Material starts from a figure of ours and is carried forward by the BLS producer price index. Both are starting points. Your own costs will differ, and the numbers you enter are the ones worth keeping.
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